There's a fine line between simple and basic. One can prove immensely useful yet quick to deal with, while the other proves quick to use but far too limited in its potential. Thinglist veers a little bit too closely to basic, despite having very good intentions.

Those intentions are solving a big problem that everyone suffers from at one point or another: remembering random bits of information. How often does a great idea pop into one's head at the worst moment possible? Or someone mentions a great movie, book or restaurant but it's forgotten far too quickly. It's easily done. After all, the brain isn't perfect. Thinglist aims to offer a place to consolidate all those pieces, with it taking seconds to add notes for future reference.

These notes are restricted to certain types: a bar, book, restaurant/food, idea, movie, music, person, place and product. It's a good starting point, though, and some are suitably vague to cover other options. Hit one of those icons and it's simply a matter of typing in briefly the subject, such as the name of a film or product. Notes can then be added, but that's as detailed as Thinglist gets. It means it's quick to use and add information, plus just as quick to consult. It also means that the $1.99 asking price feels rather expensive, even for saving time and thoughts.

There's no way to back up information, or export it to another app. It's not possible to open up a film based search, according to the movie title, or look for a book via iBooks. It's not even possible to search for a place name, through Maps. All that is possible is to look at the very attractive and well laid out list. Looks wise, Thinglist is pretty great. It's just all too shallow. Maybe at $0.99, this wouldn't be so bad but at $1.99, it feels too expensive for too little content.

iPhone Screenshots

Review disclosure: note that the product reviewed on this page may have been provided to us by the developer for the purposes of this review. Note that if the developer provides the product or not, this does not impact the review or score.